Development Updates (06/03/13)

Submitted by Zenosoft on Mon, 06/03/2013 - 23:07

Hey all,

I've been working like a mad man, basically spending all of my free time for the last 2 months working on DE2- Chapter 2. There were some miscalculations on my part as far as time tables go, and I apologize for that. Sadly, there was MUCH MORE WORK required to implement the Sanity system fully than I anticipated. In the end, I beleive it will be worth it, as it adds a simple yet deep element to gameplay AND story/character development. I also took a weekend off from DE2 last week to update Dark Eternal- Inception (SC2) for the Heart of the Swarm expansion pack. The game is now once again fully playable, with a huge assortment of bug fixes and improvements. You can currently check out Dark Eternal- Inception (v1.5) on battle.net.

Work will continue on DE2 at a rapid pace throughout the summer until It's done. I will not allow Chapter 2's official release to run past this summer, and I'm dedicated to doing whatever it takes to get it done.

Here is a list of major changes/improvements for DE2 that i've worked on over the past 6 months.

Removed "Battle Box" -
That ugly box at the bottom of the battle screen has been removed, and as a result battle BGs are now quite a bit bigger/higher resolution as a result of the extra real estate.

Brand New Battlebacks -
As a result of removing the "Battle Box", ALL battle backgrounds have been removed and replaced by higher definition versions.

Revamped Animations -
One of the things I dislike about "Dissolution" is the fact that I depended on RTP resources for 80% of the animations in the game. The same held true for DE2- Chapter 1, but no longer. RTP resource usage for animations has been reduced from 80% down to 20%, and nearly every single animation in the game has either been improved or replaced entirely.

Finished Act 2 of Chapter 2 -
Chapter 2 is broken up into three "Acts"

Zenogias has a brand new character set -
Zenogias' character set (The graphic you see representing him in map view / cinematic view.. AKA: Sprite) was always a placeholder. It wasn't a huge deal in "Dissolution", as you only played as Zenogias for a brief amount of time at the end of the game, but with DE2 featuring him as the main character, it was time to make the plunge and give him the character set that a main character deserves. IMHO, it turned out really, really good. It's not perfect, but it now matches the battler (in-battle graphic) MUCH more closely. I may make further improvements in the future, but i'm no spriter so it's going to be low on my priority list for the time being.

Sanity System -
The sanity system, while basic on paper, is ridicilous in scope. It literally effects every level, every map in the game when in control of Zenogias. This has required a huge amount of work going back through chapter 1, and adding loads of sanity-specific content. This system is truly a two-headed beast:

First Head: Sanity Cause
"Sanity Cause" is the term I use to describe any type of event that alters your sanity level. These can come in the form of main storyline events, side quest events, basic conversations and many other types of interactions throughout the game. The primary function is simple, based upon circumstances and user choices, different events will cause your sanity to move in the direction of either anger or depression. This "Sanity Level" will in turn effect future events and enviromental perspective.

Second Head: Sanity Effect
"Sanity Effect" is the term I use to describe any type of event that is altered due to your current "sanity level". These can come in the form of secret dungeons, treasure chests, conversations, events, quest rewards and other types of interactions. The primary function is to make gameplay functionality change ranging from subtle to severe, depending on the sanity choices you have made. This will make each playthrough of DE2 unique, and create diverging paths to power as far as obtained equipment, items, esseences, etc. are concerned.

tl;dr
In summary, my lack of updates has NOT been due to lack of progress, actually quite the opposite. I have worked more on DE2 over the last 6 months than I did for the entire 3 years previous. Don't give up on me! Chapter 2 is right around the corner.